Swiss nuclear plant to close in 2019: firm

30th October 2013, 0 comments

Switzerland's state-controlled energy company BKW said Wednesday its Muehleberg nuclear plant would go offline in 2019, as the country seeks to exit nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

BKW said it had "now decided to continue operating (the plant) until 2019, in compliance with all safety requirements, following which the plant will be taken off the grid."

"All ... staff will continue to be employed at the plant until operations cease in 2019. No operational redundancies are planned," the firm added in a statement.

Muehleberg, which came on line in 1972, is 17 kilometres (11 miles) west of the Swiss capital Bern.

In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, the Swiss parliament approved a phase-out for the country's atomic power plants by 2034.

Since Fukushima, Muehleberg has regularly been the scene of anti-nuclear protests demanding its immediate shutdown.